I have been reading Conscious Eating by Dr. Gabriel Cousens and today I want to share some incredibly powerful excerpts that made a big impact on me. I HIGHLY recommend that you read it. While it is a darn thick book it is so full of what we need to know and understand. Dr. Cousens brings it to us in a way that is straightforward and applicable.
I am also excited to announce that within the next few weeks I am going to facilitate an ongoing book club/discussion group and I am strongly considering Conscious Eating as our first book. Make sure to like my Facebook page or sign up for my newsletter in order to stay up to date on information about it.
Chapter 1: Perspectives on Individualizing One’s Diet, pg.7
“The art of conscious eating lies in creating an individualized diet that reflects and supports one’s realization of the highest state of awareness, as well as one’s need to function in the world of everyday life.
Eating food appropriate to one’s individual needs is a means of extracting energy from our environment in a harmonious way. In today’s world of fast foods and foods irradiation, the relationship to food has become confused and degenerate. Many of us are disconnected and perceive as foreign the natural foods that Mother Nature offers us. The natural way to eat some how seems “old-fashioned” or strange. The diseases that unnatural diet causes are so rampant that they are thought to be an inevitable part of life. This is not the case. Western medicine approaches this problem in convoluted ways and continues to spend billions of dollars developing sophisticated technologies to treat headaches while continuing to bang its (and our) head against the proverbial wall. The one who chooses to stop banging his or her head against the wall by giving up destructive food habits is often ridiculed. Our culture has become so upside down that one who chooses to heal and maintain good health with a diet that brings him or her into harmony with nature is often considered the idealist and extremist, rather than practical and appropriate. If this seems far-fetched, consider all the people who have repeated triple by-pass surgeries for clogged arteries without eliminating the proven cause of the problem, which they could do by adopting a diet that does not clog arteries.”
How do these paragraphs make you feel?
Does it ring true or do you find yourself disagreeing with the author, even about something small?
Many of us might feel defensive. Food and eating are tightly woven into our society’s concepts of family, friendship, relaxation, stress, and wealth. Our egos want us to keep eating unhealthy foods because they mean something else to us. They represent having fun or winding down. But these foods are just symbols and the reality is that the health of huge parts of the population is suffering.
I challenge you to evaluate your own health condition and test out what adding healthier, whole, plant-based foods can do for you. Try the experiment. It won’t kill you! I hope you consider what relationships you have towards unhealthier foods and how you can become more connected with nourishment. Preparing and sharing raw, healthy foods can be a fun and interesting experiment to have with your family and friends.
At the very least, I encourage you to purchase Dr. Cousens’ book and learn more. He has fabulous recipes in it as well! As I read more I will share excerpts in future blogs.
To your health!
Blissings,
Andrea
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